Tuesday, August 19, 2025
August 26, 2025
Datebook
‘GEHA Pre-retirement’
Postal Service employees may participate in an upcoming webinar that will discuss health benefits and Medicare in retirement.
The session, “GEHA Pre-retirement,” will be held Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Representatives from the Government Employees Health Association (GEHA), a provider of health plans for federal employees, will lead the discussion.
Participants must register before the event on the webinar website.
Participation is voluntary. Nonexempt employees must participate off the clock or during authorized breaks.
Employees who have questions can email the USPS Benefits and Wellness team.
Do you know the rules on using postal property?
USPS-issued vehicles, travel cards and phones can’t be used for personal business
The Postal Service is marking USPS Ethics Awareness Week by reminding employees to follow the rules on using the organization’s property.
Misusing postal property violates federal ethics rules and can result in discipline, fines, garnishment of wages and termination of employment.
Employees should never:
• Use a USPS-issued phone or computer for an outside business or second job; partisan political activity; gambling; pyramid schemes; to send or store inappropriate pictures or email messages; or to go to inappropriate websites. This applies whether employees are on or off duty.
• Use a Postal Service vehicle for personal trips or deviate from their route for personal reasons. For example, employees cannot use a USPS vehicle to travel to the airport for annual leave, and they cannot use a postal vehicle to commute from home to work unless they have received authorization.
• Use a USPS travel card to pay for personal expenses. Employees should keep their postal cards in a different location from their personal cards so they don’t mix them up. Also, employees should never use a Voyager card to put fuel in a personal vehicle or to pay for snacks, drinks or other convenience items.
Additionally, any reward points earned using a Voyager card to purchase fuel are considered postal property.
Both the Postal Service and the USPS Office of Inspector General routinely audit Voyager card usage, and violators are regularly caught.
• Borrow money from a postal drawer, even if they intend to repay it later.
Additionally, employees should remember their USPS ID is postal property and an important security measure. They should never alter or damage the badge in any way or allow others to use it.
The Ethics Blue page covers these topics in more detail. For more information, employees can email the Postal Service’s ethics helpline or call 202-268-6346.
On the Job
He puts co-workers on the road to success
This driving safety instructor takes pride in reducing accidents
My name is Christian Santiago and I’m a driving safety instructor for the Postal Service in Queens, NY. I teach other employees how to safely drive USPS delivery vehicles.
Growing up in Queens, I learned everything about driving — including how to drive a stick shift. I enjoy learning. What I like about teaching is I get to pass along my own knowledge and experience. What I learned got me far, and now I help others do the same.
I come from a teaching background. I previously taught school bus drivers before joining USPS as a tractor-trailer operator. I then became a driving safety instructor — a job I’ve had for more than a decade.
The main challenge is breaking bad driving habits. Tailgating is a problem. So is rolling through stop signs. These behaviors don’t reflect the Postal Service’s safety standards, and we use repetition to break these habits.
We go over safety repeatedly. This method of repetition — constantly repeating best practices — has reduced accidents in our district. I take pride in that.
When I’m not working, I love to take my kid to baseball games. I get in trouble living in Queens, though, because I’m a New York Yankees fan.
“On the Job,” a column on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.
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August26Datebook
‘GEHA Pre-retirement’
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Do you know the rules on using postal property?
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On the Job
He puts co-workers on the road to success
This driving safety instructor takes pride in reducing accidents
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Mail
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“Thank you for your article on brushing scams. After reading the story, I received a couple of packages I did not order and recognized the scam. Thank you for increasing awareness...”
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